Kris Sometimes in our lifetimes, we meet someone who is an exceptional inspiration. I have had the opportunity to meet such a person.
On June 2, 1975 a baby boy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents were both working on their doctoral degrees in engineering. They walked out of the hospital after they saw the baby and never looked back. Two reasons were: The parental grandparents offered to pay off their house if they would leave the baby at the hospital. And when they saw the baby, they were told they were looking at two- to three-dozen operations. The state of Wisconsin would not help with any of the medical bills. The baby was born Kristian Lee. He was born with Mobius Syndrome. Many have never heard of this problem. From research on others born with this disease, they believe the syndrome is caused by disturbances around the 4th week of development. It was believed that Kristian's (Kris) biological mother contacted the Russian Flu when she first conceived him. Kris was born with cranial nerve damage. It caused paralysis in his face. The eyes cross, and the eyes cannot close 100 percent. His inner ear nerves do not work correctly. There is no filter in his ears to deaden sound. Kris was born all but deaf. He had a vocabulary of about100 words at age three, rather than the average of 1500 words in most three-year-old children. Kris's ear tubes are too small. Fluid cannot drain properly, causing a history of ear infections. He was born with a cleft palate. His tongue grew to his cleft palate. His tongue had to be cut behind the hole in the palate, leaving him with only 20 percent of his tongue. Kris did not get all his teeth, and the teeth that did come through are not in the places everyone else has them. He is also unable to smile due to the paralysis in his face. Kris was also born without both feet. His legs developed only to the ankle bones. He has no fingers or thumbs. Doctors made a partial thumb from skin from his thigh and the medi carpal bone. He had to have a below knee simes prosthesis for both legs. Kris's IQ was tested at78. Fifty percent of people have an average IQ of 90-119. About 6.7 percent have a 70-79 IQ, which is considered borderline. At age five, Kris had an incident during surgery that caused him to be learning disabled. Yet, Kris, with the help of tutors, managed to graduate with a Bachelor's degree in therapeutic recreation. With all his difficulties, with all the surgeries he was facing, this child was adopted at 14 months old by Bob and Vernita Garriott. Bob was born with only one arm and Vernita was born legally blind. Their hearts went out to this child. At age seven, Kris sold 475 boxes of M and M's each summer to pay for YMCA camp. The summer he was 12, he sold enough M and M's to pay for three others besides himself, to attend camp. Kris did this until he was 18 years old. At age nine, he had his first job, cleaning the parking lot of a drug store so he would have money for candy bars. At age 12-14, Kris had a double paper route, delivering 288 newspapers daily on an electric mobility scooter. At age 16, he worked as a Wal-Mart associate. And at age 18, he became a day camp site supervisor at a YWCA. I have had the opportunity to sit down with Kris and talk to him about his achievements, his dreams, and goals in life. In my eyes, he is an inspiration to mankind. I met Kris last year when he was selling Pork Skins at a flea market I work at monthly. I watched him make change without difficulty, having no fingers. I saw how polite he was to people. I watched him walk on artificial legs without difficulty. I saw his strength as a human being in trying to overcome all obstacles that stood in is way in his life. I asked Kris to tell me of any hobbies he has. He said he really doesn't have any hobbies, but he does love to go Bungee Jumping. His dream is to one day be able to sky dive. I asked for any stories he could tell me about incidents in his life. He told me one that is cute. When he was 12, on his paper route one day, riding his wheel chair, which was designed as a scooter, the cops stopped him and told him that his motor scooter was not street-legal. He was very upset that day, thinking he would no longer be able to keep his paper route. Kris was fearful that he would be arrested if he were caught again on his scooter. His parents had to contact the police and inform them that Kris's scooter was not a regular scooter but one built for disabilities such as he had. He was stopped on his paper route three different times by police officers about his scooter. He had difficulties when he was attending grade school and high school. He never had a girlfriend. He had friends, but he says that no one wanted to date him with his disabilities. He would like to meet someone one day, who can see him for who he is as a person and not judge him for his birth defects. I asked what challenges he faced. The main one is his dream to become a recreation therapist in a nursing home. He has applied for jobs by calling on the phone. He gets an interview confirmed. Yet, when he shows up for the interview, and they see his disabilities, they tell him the job has been filled. While attending college, Kris was selected as one of 750 people out of 6,000 to travel with the International Up With People Group, a peace through understanding performing arts group. He traveled to Europe and has been to Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The group stayed with local people and their families, who were hosts. Kris has performed community services in other countries, learned about the culture of these countries and has sung and danced on stage to entertain people in the country he was in. He says he would love to go back and do it again. Once, while performing in Germany, he jumped off the stage after the act was finished and broke one of his artificial legs. His parents had difficulty shipping a new pair, both legs are made together, of legs to Germany. They said getting the legs past custom officials took six weeks. As a child, Kris was able to draw social security children's benefits. Today, he draws nothing. He holds down a full-time job and says he makes enough money for living on his own. He recently bought his own home, and you can see him driving around town in the 2004 Mustang convertible he is so proud of. Kris's accomplishments are remarkable for someone who has faced so many difficulties in life. He has inner strength and keeps pushing on. I think he is one astounding human being. I look around and see people who were born without any birth defects or who have no disabilities. I see people who have become alcoholics or who are on drugs. I see many drawing social security for these problems. Yet, here is a man, who has faced numerous surgeries from all his medical problems, and he still keeps pushing toward his goals. This is why I wanted to tell Kris's story. I see a man, who has fought more than most of us can ever imagine. I see a man, who believes in working for a living. I see a man, who is an asset to many with birth defects. Today, Kris resides in Northport, Alabama. He works weekdays as an office manager for a medical supply company. His weekends, when not selling pork skins at a flea market, are spent selling pork skins on a corner by his parents' home to folks who attend a little league baseball games God Bless this wonderful man. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
